


Stick The Kettle On

by the10amongstthese3s



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Jane is the best mum, Kitty is an anxious baby, Minor Illness, One Shot, a cup of tea could solve anything, all the queens would have ptsd lets be real
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the10amongstthese3s/pseuds/the10amongstthese3s
Summary: After a while of searching, Jane Seymour found a way to unite the queens and earn their trust. Now that she's poorly, they decide to repay that kindness.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 172





	Stick The Kettle On

Trust isn’t an easy thing to earn; everybody knows that.

The trust of an abused, betrayed, 16th-century queen is near non-existent.

Thankfully, getting her fellow queens to come out of their shells was a challenge Jane Seymour was more than happy to accept. If anyone could get through to them, Jane was sure it was her. After all, she was known for having the patience of a saint.

If she was going to be successful in helping the other queens, Jane had to be smart about this. Dragging them to therapy and forcing them to speak was not the answer. Not in this case. She had to be careful, to be sensitive.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the queens would have trauma after the lives they lived (and lost). Having no one to confide in couldn’t be healthy - Jane knew that much. She especially worried for the younger members of the group. The beheaded cousins were her main focus. The youngest and, arguably, most traumatised of them would definitely need some guidance. A little bit of motherly reassurance.

Who better to provide that than a fellow queen?

How could she do that though? She needed to find a way to get through to the girls. Just something small to start breaking down their walls, brick by brick.

It didn’t take long for the queens to discover Kit’s nightmares. The girl would wake up screaming each night, drenched in a freezing cold sweat, eyes desperately shooting around in search of some invisible monster. A lingering threat that kept her awake the rest of the night, most days.

It was one evening, after one of these awful night terrors, that Jane gave a gentle knock on Kit’s door. A small squeak came from inside, which Jane decided to take as an invitation to crack the door open just enough to peer inside.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jane hummed with a small smile, earning no reply from the disheveled girl. Kit just stared at her in silence, holding her duvet tightly around herself. “I’m going to go make some tea. I’ll make you a cup up, just in case you want to come and keep me company,” Jane explained quietly, not waiting for a reply before backing out of the room and making her way downstairs.

After around fifteen minutes of sitting by herself at the kitchen table, Jane was grateful to see a figure slowly enter the room, watching her cautiously. Jane just gave a soft smile and gestured to the mug sat across the table from her, watching as the girl hesitated for a moment, before shuffling over to the seat, holding a teddy bear close to her chest.

“Thank you,” Kit mumbled nervously, keeping her eyes on her mug as she took a sip, a strange sense of relief washing over her as the sweet, warm liquid filled her mouth. “You’re welcome, love.”

The two sat in comfortable silence drinking their tea for around ten minutes until a familiar, exhausted-looking woman entered the room holding an empty mug. She didn’t even notice them at first, pacing to the coffee machine in a zombified state. It was only when Jane gave a soft “hello Cathy” that the girl snapped out of her trance.

“Oh, uh, hey Jane. Hi Kit,” Parr yawned, making Jane frown. “Take a seat, love. It looks like you could use a little break from whatever you’re working on,” Jane said, guiding the barely-awake girl to a seat. To her surprise, Parr didn’t complain - she was too exhausted. Instead, the girl gave Kit an awkward smile before laying her head down on the table, giving a small grunt of thanks as Jane set a mug down in front of her.

Before Parr could even take a sip, another figure appeared at the table. 

“We having a party?” Anne asked in a joking tone. Her blotchy face and irritated eyes made it obvious that she didn’t just come down here to tell jokes, though.

Immediately, Jane got to work making another cup of tea whilst Anne took a seat beside her baby cousin, going uncharacteristically quiet for once.

Soon enough, Aragon and Cleves joined them too, giving no excuse for their appearances. Nobody asked, either. All that mattered was that they were all there, all okay.

The group sat in silence around that table for most of that night, all sipping on that wonderfully sweet mixture Jane created. Even Parr, who absolutely hated tea, couldn’t help but agree when Jane offered her seconds. Something about the soothing liquid just seemed so appealing. Later, Jane would joke that the secret ingredient was love. In reality, it was a dollop of honey, but they didn’t need to know that.

From that moment on, if any of the queens had a bad day or needed some comfort, it became a ritual that Jane would make them a cup of tea. It was more than a hot drink; it was a safe space to relax for a few moments, a showing of love, a symbol that soon came to signify their safety in this strange new world. When the nightmares, panic attacks, and flashbacks came, Jane would always be there to comfort the fragile girls, a cup of tea in hand.

One day though, Jane wasn’t there to offer anybody a cup of tea. She didn’t greet everyone with breakfast as she usually did. She didn’t even get out of bed.

By 10am, the group grew concerned and sent Aragon to go check on the woman. From outside the bedroom though, Aragon could already hear an awful, hacking cough.

Giving a small knock, Aragon waited for an invitation before slipping inside the room. Jane looked terrible. Her face was almost completely white apart from her bright red nose. The poor woman’s eyelids seemed heavy, and she winced as the light leaked in from the hallway.

Immediately, Aragon began to fuss, helping Jane to take some cold medicine before forcing her to eat a slice of toast. Jane didn’t even have the strength to argue that she was fine. She felt awful.

In the kitchen, Kit couldn’t help panicking at the thought of Jane being ill. What if it was serious? What if Jane needed help? What if even doctors couldn’t help her? What if?

What if?

Seeing the girl close to spiraling, Parr decided to make her a cup of tea to try to ease her, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t Jane’s special tea. Instead, it filled her stomach like cement, scalding her throat with every bitter sip. It was all so wrong.

Knowing her cousin needed some comfort, Anne wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders and gave a smile. “I have an idea,” she announced, intriguing the others, “we’re just in the way here. How about if we go shopping and get Jane some presents. A ‘get well soon’ card and all that malarky. Maybe that could bring a little smile to her face.”

One thing’s for certain; Anne Boleyn was definitely good at creating distractions. 

In the store, Kit’s anxiety slowly transformed to excitement, picking out every little thing that reminded her of Jane. Cleves and Parr quickly joined in too, seeing the way it was helping the teenager. They didn’t realise it, but every single one of them was willing to do whatever it took to make the girl feel safe again. To feel happy.

Soon enough, the group found themselves sat in the minivan with two rolls of wrapping paper and a truckload of gifts. Jane deserved every single one of them, after all.

After heading to McDonald's for a late lunch and giving Jane time to rest, the queens finally arrived back home, all carrying piles of presents. Parr quickly let Aragon sign the card before heading upstairs with the group.

This time, Jane looked a lot better. The woman finally had a little bit of colour back in her cheeks. 

Spotting the flowers and card in Kit’s arms, Jane gave a weak smile, gesturing for the girl to join her on the bed. What she wasn’t expecting, was for the three other girls to enter the room with their arms filled with gifts, Aragon following closely behind with a curious smirk.

“What’s all this?” Jane chuckled, her voice hoarse from coughing. 

“For you,” was the only answer Anne gave as she threw down the presents on the bed at Jane’s feet, Parr and Cleves doing the same (slightly more carefully) a moment later.

Spotting the hopeful look on Kit’s face, Jane couldn’t help smiling, picking up the first present. 

There seemed to be a running theme with the gifts. Fancy tea bags and cute little tins to store them in, heart-shaped tea diffusers with flavoured tea leaves to use inside, a range of biscuits. Even a new kettle, as hers was a rusty old thing given to her second hand. 

The gift that made her smile the most though was a baby blue mug with ‘Mum of the House’ written on the front in white cursive, and a crown on the other side.

“You always say there’s nothing a cup of tea can’t help so we thought maybe this stuff would help you,” Kit finally said quietly, making Jane look up with a teary smile and pull her into a hug. For a moment, Kit froze, before sinking into the woman’s embrace.

That hug felt sweeter and warmer than any cup of tea the teenager could imagine. Kit quickly found herself thinking she could get used to this, keeping her head resting against Jane’s shoulder as the woman thanked them all.

Trust is hard to earn, that much is true. It’s certainly not impossible though.

Sometimes, all it takes is a cup of tea.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, my lil ducklings! I hope you liked it 😊 This was a slightly longer one because I have no self-restraint. Let me know what you think! 🦆


End file.
